Tonight, the sad news has been confirmed that Betty Ford, former first lady (1974–77), has died at age 93. She had expected only to be the wife of a congressman, but a confluence of events—the resignation of Spiro Agnew as vice president and the resignation of Richard M. Nixon as president—thrust her husband Gerald and her into an unexpected limelight.

As first lady at a difficult period—the divisions caused by Vietnam and Watergate and in the wake of the only presidential resignation in history—her candor and political activism broke the mold of American first ladies and was just the right tonic for the American polity. As Betty Caroli, author of First Ladies and Inside the White House: America’s Most Famous Home, recounts in her biography of Ford for Britannica:

Betty Ford. Credit: Library of Congress.

Betty always had a reputation for candour, but she later said that the circumstances under which she became first lady underscored that predilection. She understood that, in the wake of Watergate, Americans demanded more honesty from their public officials. Her commitment to openness was soon tested. On September 28, 1974, just weeks after she moved into the White House, her doctors performed a mastectomy, removing her cancerous right breast. Previous president’s wives had concealed their illnesses, especially those peculiar to women, but she and her husband decided to disclose the facts. Moved by her example, women all across the nation went to their physicians for examinations; Betty said it was then that she recognized the first lady’s enormous power to make a difference. Although chemotherapy followed, she continued to perform her duties as first lady….

Betty gained national attention for her appearance on the television news program 60 Minutes in August 1975. When asked about her views on premarital sex, she said that she would not be surprised to learn that her 18-year-old daughter had had an affair. She said that, as a mother, she would counsel her daughter and try to find out something about the “young man.”

In addition to her transparency and grace, she was also politically active, campaigning for the Equal Rights Amendment and supporting the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 that legalized abortion.

After her husband lost the 1976 election, she and her husband retired to California, where Betty’s dependence on prescription drugs continued. In 1978 she agreed to enter a treatment center, and four years later she cofounded the Betty Ford Center to help treat others with similar addictions. In 1991 George Bush awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

In an era of hyperpolarized politics, her grace and ability to bridge the partisan divide will sorely be missed.